$5 Million Gift Will Launch

Scripps Climate Change Center

Scripps Institution of Oceanography will launch a new Center for Climate Change with a $5 million gift from longtime supporters UC San Diego supporters Richard and Carol Dean Hertzberg.

“We’re giving this gift because we believe we’re all in it together,” said Richard Hertzberg at a press conference Monday.

Hertzberg, president and CEO of energy company ENPEX Corp., said he believes that “good science and technology” will ensure humanity does not “drown in the waste products of our own invention.”

The mission of the new center is to provide science-based strategies for adapting to climate change.

“This center will leverage the great strengths of UC San Diego in engineering, economics and public policy,” said Chancellor Pradeep Khosla, who predicted the center’s work would have national impact.

Rep. Scott Peters who was present for the announcement, noted that while Congress debates whether climate change is real, San Diego is focusing on solutions. “We don’t have to wait for San Diego to take the lead on this,” he said.

Hertzberg said that when the Biblical commandment to “go forth and multiply” was issued, “I don’t think the industrial revolution and the steam turbine were in the plan.”

Scripps has been a worldwide leader in investigating the causes and impacts of climate change, and was recently recognized for supporting research into the Keeling Curve — the long-term rise in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The La Jolla-based institution has a staff of 1,400 and operates four research ships.

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JCJ Architecture designed the project and it was built by The Hunt Construction Group.

SDSU Holds Grand Opening

For Jeff Jacobs JAM Center

Times of San Diego

San Diego State held a private grand-opening Sunday for the Jeff Jacobs JAM Center, a 23,500-square foot basketball practice facility that broke ground in August 2014.

Men’s basketball coach Steve Fisher, women’s basketball coach Stacie Terry and SDSU president Elliot Hirshman were all on hand for the event that has been in the making since Fisher transformed the basketball program when he was hired in 1999.

Men’s basketball coach Steve Fisher

“I need to ask Coach (Fisher) why we didn’t have this when I was here,” said former SDSU forward Malcolm Thomas (a part of the 2010-11 Sweet Sixteen team) to GoAztecs.com. “The only thing I can compare it with are some of the places I’ve seen in the NBA.”

Jeff Jacobs, son of Qualcomm Inc. co-founder Irwin Jacobs and who the facility was named after, was on hand for the unveiling of the $15 million building he donated to, along with Hal and Debby Jacobs, Steve and Lisa Altman and Jim Morris, who helped comprise the “JAM” nickname.

“I said before we cut the ribbon that dreams become reality for a lot of reasons and it’s about the people involved,” Fisher said to GoAztecs.com.

There were several reasons for a new practice facility, other than the team’s success during Fisher’s tenure.

For one, it gives players on the men’s and women’s teams somewhere to practice at all times, something that has not always been available.

“We have wonderful facilities here, but access is not always readily available because of other things that go on in those facilities,” Fisher said.

Also, it gives top-tier recruits another reason to choose SDSU over other top-flight programs that have similar complexes.

It already helped the men’s team land two four-star recruits in incoming freshman point guard Jeremy Hemsley and forward Nolan Narain, a hard commit that will join the team in 2016.

The new facility comes chalk-full of amenities. It includes: Two full-length basketball courts, eight baskets, two scoreboards, Keiser strength equipment, locker rooms, team lounges, coaches locker rooms, film room equipped with 80-inch short throw projector with write-on capability and an athletic training room.

JCJ Architecture designed the project and it was built by The Hunt Construction Group.

UC San Diego Health Appoints

Interim Chief Executive Officer

Patty Maysent

Patty Maysent has been appointed interim chief executive officer of UC San Diego Health, bringing more than 25 years of executive experience in hospital leadership and health services management. Maysent replaces Paul Viviano, who was CEO for the past three years. Viviano is joining the administration of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

Maysent joined UC San Diego Health in 2012 as chief of staff to Viviano, and in 2013 became chief strategy officer. In these capacities, Maysent has been leading the organization’s growth efforts through new programs and partnerships with local health systems and community physicians.

Under her leadership, UC San Diego Health collaborated with Scripps Health to provide proton therapy services as a cancer treatment option and also to co-sponsor a hospice fellowship training program. In addition, she led the development of a joint venture with home health services company, AccentCare, to provide patients a comprehensive, continuum of care after discharge.

Prior to joining UC San Diego Health, Maysent served in several executive roles, including CEO of St. Jude Medical Center.

El Cajon Names Next Police Chief

City News Service

El Cajon City Manager Douglas Williford announced Monday the selection of El Cajon police Capt. Jeff Davis as the city’s next police chief. Davis will replace Chief Jim Redman when he steps down Dec. 4.

A graduate of El Capitan High School in Lakeside, Davis attended Grossmont College and earned a bachelor’s degree in business management from San Diego Christian College. He began his career with the El Cajon Police Department in 1986, was promoted to sergeant in 1999, to lieutenant in 2006 and to captain in 2011, city spokeswoman Monica Zech said.

Davis, 53, has served in a variety of roles during his 29-year career with the department. Early on, he was a school safety officer in the Traffic Division. He also worked as a training officer while supervising recruits at San Diego Regional Police Academy.

While assigned to the ECPD Investigations Division, Davis served in the Crimes against Children Unit, coordinating the implementation of a Department of Justice grant to address street-level drug dealing on El Cajon Boulevard. He also was the department’s training manager and recently headed the Crime Analysis Division, which includes the city’s crime lab.

His starting annual salary as chief will be $169,790.

UC San Diego Ranked No. 1 for Public Good

City News Service

For the sixth year in a row, UC San Diego was first in the United States for colleges that serve the public good in rankings released Monday by Washington Monthly.

The publication rates universities in criteria such as recruiting and graduating low-income students, producing cutting-edge research and encouraging students to participate in community service.

The Washington Monthly rankings differ from those put out by U.S. News & World Report, which tends to favor private universities. By contrast, 16 of the top 20 Washington Monthly colleges are publicly supported.

San Diego State University ranked 101st, despite being seventh in the U.S. for its graduation rate of students on Pell Grants. The University of San Diego was 200th and Alliant International University, located in Scripps Ranch, was 275th.

Washington Monthly also issued “Bang for the Buck” rankings, sorted by region, in which SDSU placed 14th in the West, UCSD 16th, Cal State Marcos 21st, Point Loma Nazarene 54th, San Diego Christian College 137th and USD 152nd. The magazine said the higher ranking schools do a better job of educating low- and middle-income students.

The San Diego Central Library

San Diego Central Library Wins

Distinction as a ‘New Landmark Library’

The Library Journal, a trade publication for libraries, has designated the San Diego Central Library as a “New Landmark Library,” one of 11 to receive that distinction from more than 80 entries. The libraries chosen were completed between 2010 and 2014.

The San Diego library opened in 2013 and was designed by Rob Wellington Quigley/Tucker Sadler Architects.

The winning libraries were selected for a number of qualities, including design and construction, response to community context and constraints, sustainability, functionality, innovation and beauty and delight.

The distinction may be mentioned when the library holds a two-year anniversary celebration Oct. 3.

Metropolitan Transit System

Offering Free Video on Demand

San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) is now offering a free multichannel, video on demand service for their passengers using FlashPoints Media Group’s latest entertainment system for transit operators. The service will be accessible to passengers on their mobile devices, including smart phones, tablets, and laptops.

There will be no cost or data usage fees for riders to access movies, television shows, cartoons and other entertainment. MTS-TV will initially be available on all Trolleys operating on the Green Line, with rollout on all Blue and Orange Line Trolleys to be completed by the end of August. The MTS-TV service will be available in the major trolley stations on all three trolley lines by the end of September.

“This first-of-its-kind offering is meant to enhance the experience of our Trolley passengers who rely on us daily to get to their destinations,” said Paul Jablonski, chief executive officer at MTS. “Public transportation plays a vital role in the San Diego region and our goal is to offer new features as services grow.”

Passengers will be able to access the free video programming by connecting to the MTS-TV WiFi on their mobile device and opening the MTS-TV home page on their Internet browser.

Cox Communications is participating with both MTS and FlashPoints in this first-to-market trial by donating much of its locally produced video content.

Illumina, Burning Rock Partner for Oncology MDx

Illumina and molecular diagnostics firm Burning Rock announced today that they will codevelop oncology products based on Illumina’s sequencing instruments for the Chinese market.

As part of the agreement, San Diego-based Illumina will provide NGS instrument components and reagents, and Guangzhou, China-based Burning Rock will provide its nucleic acid extraction, library preparation, and data analysis software.

“We have been working to promote the clinical application of genomic technology in China,” Burning Rock Founder and CEO Yusheng Han said in a statement. “Oncology molecular diagnosis based on NGS, including non-invasive testing, is being applied in the clinic and we hope to promote it as a standard practice in hospitals.”

The collaboration will “increase access to oncology diagnosis solutions in China,” Rick Klausner, Illumina’s senior VP and chief medical officer, said in a statement.

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In the coming months, Probosky Research (one of California’s leading opinion research firms) will continue its partnership with SD METRO to survey San Diego residents about topics of interest to our readers. We’d like to throw open the door for suggestions for topics. What do you want to know? What do you think you know, but aren’t sure? What are you certain you know, but want to prove it beyond doubt? Ideally, we’d like to see questions that have to do with public policy.
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